Wednesday, 27 June 2012

Rail Diaries#1 - The Blue Malabar Wagons

7:00
pm, Sunday, 24th June, Onboard Aleppey Express: I am on the first of many many Chennai trips to
come, my office being at Mahindra city (a planet far far away from Chennai ;) ). Having
recuperated from a small bike accident for a week at home, I am going to be
back at work tomorrow morning.

I find train journeys reasonably boring.
At Palghat station, I got down for a cup of tea and to take a stroll. Blowing
in to my cup of tea, I looked across and there is parked, the all too familiar
blue wagons of Malabar Cements Ltd (MCL) and it got me thinking.

A quick flash back to our engineering
days; the reason being a couple of my close friends had done their final year engineering
project at MCL. Out of sheer curiosity, I had set out on a journey to MCL with them
when they went to collect their certificates from there. Seated on the
concrete slabs, I remember staring at these wagons back then from the very same
platform. I distinctly remember us collectively fretting about placements. But
we were moderately confident and hopeful. Later on, some of us joined some IT
firms and the rest including me set out to Bombay in search of a job. Luckily,
all of us landed jobs and is now spread across India.

After
a year at Bombay, I resigned from RIL and came to do MBA and thus began the
train journeys to and from ASB, Coimbatore. Boy, those were fun! Even then I remember
noticing these blue wagons. I used to give some gyaan to anyone who cared to
listen as to how they belong to MCL and how it might be on lease from railways and
so on, usually that person being Vivek. Many a time when I repeated the same
gyaan (which was more often than not) he shut me up too J
.Even then, we used to wonder where we will be after the course ends. I guess
the blue wagons just manifest themselves whenever I am in search of a job.

And now, again on a Sunday night, I see
the blue wagon J, enroute my office. I hope it’s
not an omen of an impending search for a job! Given the market situations, you
never know J. But being the wanna be optimist I
am , I look at it as a sign of luck and as something which is going to bring me seasons of good times to be cherished.

Friday, 22 June 2012

A blog on FRIENDS, the series

The title song of this stupendously
successful sitcom brings a smile on my face, every single time. When it comes
to TV shows, ‘Friends’ is the first word and the last. It is what they call a
CLASSIC! This series was aired on the US Television and then the world over for
10 long years. What is more fascinating is the fact that it had the same star cast
of 6 friends all through the 10 seasons.

What I love about the show is the fact
that it doesn’t have a story per se. It portrays the everyday lives of 6
friends (Chandler, Phoebe, Joey, Monica, Rachel & Ross) set against the
back drop of a coffee shop. Even in the first episode, there was no narration
involved. The show implored the audience to understand the story line over a
period of time. This might be one of the many things that worked in its favour.

There
is something about it which makes it worth watching repeatedly without a pint
of boredom. It is about friendship, love and family. It touches up on all the
emotions without being preachy for even a second. I envy the scriptwriters. How
abundantly talented people! Same goes for the cast. One cannot resist but fall
in love with each one of them.

The
subtlety with which each episode is approached is praise worthy. There is no in
the face messages or mushiness. It leaves a lot of room for the audiences’
imagination .It doesn’t confine the audience’s thought process neither does it
consciously guide them.

Yes, there is a certain degree of Idealism to it. The Friendships of the real world might not be as perfect or as hassle free. But Life is all about aspiring , isn't it? - for a better companionship, for a happier existence. 'FRIENDS' manifests as a small reason for us to look up to and to aspire.

The
1990s were a dynamic phase in any part of the world with the advent of many
inventions like the internet. Still the show never went out of vogue. I don’t
think it ever will.

Wednesday, 20 June 2012

Call of Duty

When my sister and I were school goers, we used to stay at a rented house closer to her school. That home has many sweet memories and remain a favorite till date.

One saturday morning, we had a visitor. I was in 8th grade then.Dad was on his
28days leave from Abudhabi. He used to work in off shore rig back then. I
opened the door and saw a person in white shirt and black pants.What caught my
eye was his golden framed spectacles. I closed the door half way and went back
to dad telling him he has a visitor.Dad went to the door and ushered that
person in. I heard him saying " My son don't know you.Sorry that he kept
you waiting here.Please come inside."

Then they discussed many things over a cup of tea. When he left, dad told me
"You shouldn't have left him waiting at the door. He is a Bank
manager". From next time onwards, I made sure he was welcomed
properly. He was a very unassuming , humble person.

Now I understand the relevance of his visiting us at home. It was in mid 1990s.
He was a branch manager at SBT. The four lettered private banks were not as
prolific back then. So a Bank manager had no need to visit a customer's
house.

Over the years, he became a friend of dad's and Suresh uncle for us.He was
given the charge of a branch in Ollur, a small town in Kerala. That branch was
facing shut down and he was in charge of bringing some business. Dad, being
an NRI back then was a premium customer. At times, he went on to the extent of
delivering cash at home when dad was away. ATMs were a rare sighting in those
days.

Dad says Suresh uncle used to travel up and down to Trivandrum (6 hrs away
from here) every weekend to meet his parents.He was working so hard and yet he
had a wonderful work-life balance. He used to visit many of his customers at
their office/home and saved the branch from closure . Later on , he got a
transfer with a promotion.

Friday, 15 June 2012

Spirit of Life

I
believe the essence of Life lies in the smallest of things. Life fills up in a hearty laugh. A lover's stolen
glance epitomizes life as does a friend's hug.

Life is the most giving in the wide open arms of our Grandparents. It wells up
in mom's eyes and rests lightly on dad's shoulders. Life hides in your
sibling's sulk :).

Life is as much there in your home's favorite corner as in the most sacred of
the God's places.

Life sings from the notes of an
impassioned melody.Life plays around in a good game.It manifests beautifully in a good film. Life hides in the tears behind life’s little sorrows.Life spills over in the unspoken love of your pet.Life buoys up in a spirited person.

Sunday, 10 June 2012

7th
Grader is not a Five point Someone

After having a sumptuous lunch
from Kris’ home, I headed for MCity in a taxi. I have always loved cabs. Have
always had this feeling that taxis are so comfortable, with the chauffeur et
al. When I was in Bombay, I used to wait for a cab to come along even if autos were there. For one, the local cabs (fiats) were cheap there and it gave that comfy - indulgent feel.

Stuck in the traffic signal, he told his name is
Ibrahim, from palghat in kerala. My mom is from Palghat and hence I have a
liking towards people from there. The awareness he had about things that
mattered amazed me. The only difference was that he did not use the jargons
that we people do.

He was reminiscing about his middle
east days. He used to own a taxi service in Saudi. He was employing 4 guys. He
said his business did well. The roads there are great, so no maintenance for
the cars. The petrol price was very less. He said “ I agree that Saudi has oil
in the country and that is why the price is very less. But it is highly over
priced in our country. It is all due to the taxes. That is why the price of
every damn thing is going up. Politicians should do something about it”.

Ibrahim ikka loves Kerala beyond anything. He said “Kerala is an amazing
place to live, truly God’s own country. But there is minimal employment. That
is why our youngsters are moving to middle east. We cannot blame our government
completely. We do not have the kind of barren lands that a Karnataka or a Tamil
nadu has.”. “But what about the IT sector ikka?” I probed. He said “Yes that
can be done. All these companies should come there - Infosys, CTS, Ascendes (I
thought he was referring to Accenture. But there is a company called Ascendes!)”.

The
music system started singing a beautiful song from the malayalam movie “Ee
Puzhyum Kadannu”. He said “There is no one like Yesudas. What a talented singer!
In my lonely gulf days, his voice brought me back to Kerala in a second. You
know, I did not come back for 20 long years! Can you believe that? First five
years, alone and then 15 years with family. If I had stayed on, I would have
got Saudi citizen ship. I said no way! I will die in my country”.

Then
the conversation got candid. He said that he has studied only till 7th
grade. “My wife is also a graduate. During that time, many people made fun of
me and asked my father in law not to go ahead with the marriage. If you ask me,
it’s all in the head. It never stopped me from doing anything. I worked very
hard and made sure all my children studied". His elder daughter is a graduate
and married a software engineer in HCL. His younger daughter is pursuing PG in Chennai.
His face lit up when he talked about them.

I
thoroughly enjoyed the journey (all the while, he was driving above 100km/hr,
but eyes firmly on the road) and the conversation. As I got down I gave some
extra money rounding off the fare. He got offended “You think I talked to you
for this?”. I insisted again. He said “ I will not accept any extra money from
you. Next time when you call our taxi
service, ask for me :) , or for any help in Chennai for that matter.“

And I thought education widens the
horizons of people’s thought process!

Saturday, 9 June 2012

Addicted

Having got a weekend off from Infy guesthouse, I headed to my cousin’s place. After some chit chat, she asked me if I wanted tea. I said yes.
Then a guest came and my sister asked if I want tea. I said yes. Then my
brother in law came back from work. Again she asked and my answer was yet
again, YES! She laughed and said “You and your bro in law are mad about tea. He too never says no to tea J.”

What is it with me and
Tea???There is a morning tea. There is a tea during breakfast. There is a 4 o
clock tea. These are routine.

When I was in college, I
used to wake up at 6! – for the TEA! There was a tea during every break. At
times, it became two. Then there is a tea at 7 in the evening to call it a day!

Now at work, there is a
tea between training sessions. To make things worse, there is a tea set in the
room! So it has become even more frequent.

There was a move to
make Tea the national drink. I am all for it. It gives me a legitimate reason to indulge in my favorite drink J

Sunday, 3 June 2012

City of Good times

It is so easy to fall in love with this city. Be it the weather, the
cosmopolitan appeal, all add to its charm.

Yes, it has its own misgivings – the
traffic is horrible, connectivity is bad by any standards. But no city is
perfect and attempts are being made to make it better. Given the unexpected explosive
growth that this city underwent, it needs some time.

I used to visit Bangalore during my vacations
when I was in 12th and early years of engineering. This is where I
first went to a multiplex, I had my first Pizza and even to a McD! Once, I came to B'lore for my sis’
scholarship test. It was in Leela
kempinski. Since then, I am in awe of B'lore and all of its charms.

Later on,I did my
summer internship here. There are some wonderful memories from that time too.

I am in love with the red Volvo buses
here. It is so plush! Some ad says “ Noises are to be seen, not heard”. These
buses give you exactly that kind of comfort - of course, that comes with a price! :).

The people of B’lore are also very
welcoming – at least so far. Although the numerous fly overs are cutting across
the city’s landscape, some areas have retained their lush green - garden city
character.

B’lore
is also home to some people whom I hold very close to heart – friends,
relatives – across all demography :) .

The
commercial street, the MG road , the Brigade road, ISKCON temple, Lal Bagh –
all of them define the city that is Bengaluru! My friend, Unni jokes Silk board
Jn is the Trafalgar Square of B'lore! All it lacks is pigeons :).

There is a very rare blend to this city.
It is as much home to a Vidhana Soudha and a palace as it is to a Forum or a UB
city.

And for those, who love a lot of beer and a
bit of music, there are the heavenly pubs. Many of those in the twilight of
their lives have settled down to wake up to the beautiful mornings of this
city.